Selling an inherited flat in Poland – tax, deadlines and reliefs (2026)
Author: Tacjana MasiukiewiczCosts and taxes~14 min read
Selling an inherited flat is exempt from income tax if 5 years have passed since the end of the year in which the deceased bought the flat. With a gift it is different: you count 5 years from the end of the year in which you received the flat. If the period has not yet passed, you pay 19% PIT (personal income tax) on the income, but you can deduct, among other things, the purchase costs incurred by the deceased, any paid compulsory share (zachowek) and renovation expenses, or use the housing relief. Below you will find a table of typical situations and two calculations for a flat worth about PLN 755 thousand.
Key points
- Inheritance: the 5 years are counted from the end of the calendar year in which the deceased acquired the flat (art. 10 sec. 5 of the PIT Act, applicable to sales from 1 January 2019).
- Gift: the 5 years are counted from the end of the year in which you received the gift – the date the donor bought it does not matter.
- Tax on a sale before the deadline: 19% of the income, settled on form PIT-39 by 30 April of the following year.
- The closest family (the so-called zero group) pays no inheritance and gift tax if it reports the acquisition on form SD-Z2 within 6 months.
- Proceeds spent within 3 years of the end of the year of sale on your own housing purposes are exempt from PIT (housing relief).
When do you start counting 5 years for an inheritance, and when for a gift?
The general rule is simple: a sale of real estate by a private person is taxed if it took place before five years have passed, counting from the end of the calendar year in which it was acquired (art. 10 sec. 1 pt 8 of the PIT Act). We describe this mechanism in detail, with examples of dates, in the article Tax on selling a flat within 5 years. Here we focus on what changes with an inheritance and a gift.
Inheritance. Since 1 January 2019, when an inherited flat is sold, the five-year period is counted from the end of the year in which the deceased bought (or built) the flat, not from the death of the deceased or from the date of the court decision (art. 10 sec. 5 of the PIT Act). The new wording applies to income obtained from 1 January 2019, so it does not matter whether the deceased died before or after that date – the date of sale counts.
Gift. There is no similar rule for a gift, so the general rule applies: five years are counted from the end of the year in which you received the flat. Even if your parents bought it 30 years ago, the gift "restarts the clock".
Selling an inherited or gifted flat – when is there tax? Table of situations
The examples below assume a sale in 2026 by a person who does not run a real estate trading business.
| Situation | When you start counting 5 years | End of the period | PIT on a sale in 2026? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Inheritance from a parent who bought the flat in 2015 | from 31.12.2015 | 31.12.2020 | No |
| Inheritance from a parent who bought the flat in 2024 | from 31.12.2024 | 31.12.2029 | Yes – 19% of the income, unless housing relief applies |
| Gift from parents in 2023 (parents bought in 2005) | from 31.12.2023 | 31.12.2028 | Yes – without deducting the price paid by the parents |
| Division of the estate in 2025 with a payout to siblings (deceased bought in 2012) – the part corresponding to your share | from 31.12.2012 | 31.12.2017 | No |
| The same division of the estate – the part acquired above your share (for the payout) | from 31.12.2025 | 31.12.2030 | Yes, but the payout is a cost, so the income is often small |
Which costs can you deduct when selling an inherited or gifted flat?
You pay tax on income, that is, on the price in the contract less the costs of sale (e.g. a valuation or an agent's fee – art. 19 sec. 1) and less the costs of obtaining the income. For flats received free of charge the cost rules are set out in art. 22 sec. 6d of the PIT Act – and here an inheritance is clearly more favourable than a gift.
| Cost | Inheritance | Gift |
|---|---|---|
| Documented expenditure increasing the value of the flat (renovation, modernisation) incurred by you | yes | yes |
| Inheritance and gift tax paid – in the part relating to the flat being sold | yes | yes |
| Documented costs of acquisition or construction incurred by the deceased | yes | no |
| Estate burdens: repaid estate debts, compulsory share paid, bequests and instructions carried out | yes (also if you pay them after the sale) | no |
Two practical notes. First, expenditure is proved with VAT invoices and documents of administrative charges (art. 22 sec. 6e) – receipts and transfers to a tradesperson without an invoice are not enough. Second, the deceased's costs must also be documented: look for the notarial deed of purchase (akt notarialny), the developer agreement (umowa deweloperska) and proofs of payment.
Compulsory share and selling an inherited flat
If you have to pay a compulsory share (zachowek) to a sibling or to the other parent, and the estate cannot be split "in half", selling the flat is sometimes the only source of money. A compulsory share paid is an estate burden that reduces the income from the sale – the Act expressly allows it to be deducted even if you satisfy the claim only after the sale.
Division of the estate with a payout – what about tax?
When several people inherit a flat, they are first co-owners. A division of the estate up to the amount of your share is neither an acquisition nor a sale within the meaning of the PIT Act (art. 10 sec. 7). So if in the division you receive as much as your share amounted to, for that part the date of purchase by the deceased still counts.
It is different when you take over the whole flat and pay out your siblings. You acquire the part above your share in the year of the division, so for it five years start running anew. In the interpretative practice of the tax authorities, the payout is treated as a documented cost of acquiring that part, so if you sell at a price close to the valuation from the division, the income from that part is small.
Remember the order: to sell the flat you must show the notary a legal title – a court decision confirming the acquisition of the estate or a registered certificate of inheritance (akt poświadczenia dziedziczenia). An application to the court for confirmation of the acquisition of the estate costs PLN 100, for division of the estate – PLN 500 (PLN 300 with an agreed division plan). We discuss the cost of a notarial certificate of inheritance in the article Notary fees 2026.
Inheritance tax in the zero group – SD-Z2 within 6 months
Inheritance and gift tax is a separate levy on the mere receipt of a flat – independent of the PIT on the sale. A spouse, descendants (children, grandchildren), ascendants (parents, grandparents), a stepchild, siblings, a stepfather and a stepmother are exempt from it if they report the acquisition to the head of the tax office on form SD-Z2 (art. 4a of the Inheritance and Gift Tax Act). The deadline is 6 months:
- for an inheritance – from the date the court decision confirming the acquisition of the estate becomes final, or from the registration of the certificate of inheritance;
- for a gift – from the moment the tax obligation arises. A gift of a flat always requires a notarial deed, and an acquisition in this form is exempt from the reporting duty – the notary takes care of it when drawing up the deed.
If you are late reporting an inheritance, you lose the exemption and pay tax as a person in the first tax group (tax-free amount PLN 36 120, rates from 3% to 7%). That tax paid, however, comes back as a cost on a later sale. More distant relatives (e.g. a nephew or niece) always pay tax under the second or third group – and they too can deduct it in PIT.
Planning to sell an inherited flat and not sure what it is worth? We will prepare a valuation and handle the sale – including gathering the documents the notary requires for a flat from an inheritance.
Example: how much tax on selling an inherited flat before 5 years have passed?
As the sale price we take PLN 755 000 – close to the median price of a 2-room flat in Warsaw in our offer (PLN 755 824 according to data from the TM Invest offer, as at 27.09.2026). Assumptions: Anna inherited the whole flat from her mother, who bought it in 2022. The five years end on 31.12.2027, and Anna sells in 2026. She reported the acquisition on SD-Z2, so she did not pay inheritance tax. She paid her brother a compulsory share.
| Item | Inheritance (mother bought in 2022) | Gift from mother in 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Sale price | PLN 755 000 | PLN 755 000 |
| Costs of sale (valuation, agent's fee) | −PLN 15 000 | −PLN 15 000 |
| Proceeds | PLN 740 000 | PLN 740 000 |
| Acquisition costs incurred by the mother (price, notary, documented) | −PLN 530 000 | cannot be deducted |
| Renovation documented with VAT invoices | −PLN 25 000 | −PLN 25 000 |
| Compulsory share paid | −PLN 60 000 | not applicable |
| Income | PLN 125 000 | PLN 715 000 |
| PIT 19% | PLN 23 750 | PLN 135 850 |
The difference is huge: with a gift you do not deduct what the parents paid, so almost the whole price becomes income. That is why a flat received as a gift is usually not worth selling before five years have passed – unless the money goes towards housing relief.
The same sale with housing relief
The exempt part of the income is the part that corresponds to the share of expenditure on your own housing purposes in the proceeds (art. 21 sec. 1 pt 131). If Anna spends PLN 400 000 of the PLN 740 000 proceeds on buying a new flat for herself, 54.05% of the income is exempt, i.e. PLN 67 568. PLN 57 432 remains taxable, and the tax falls from PLN 23 750 to PLN 10 912. If she spent the whole of the proceeds, the tax would be PLN 0. She has until the end of 2029 to spend it (three years from the end of the year of sale). What exactly counts as a "housing purpose" we explain in the article Housing relief 2026.
Selling an inherited flat to buy a new one? Prices in our offer
Buying a flat is the basic expenditure qualifying for housing relief (art. 21 sec. 25 pt 1 lit. a of the PIT Act). With a flat under construction, make sure the contract transferring ownership is signed within the three-year relief period – we describe the details in the article on the relief. For orientation: median prices in our offer according to data from the TM Invest offer, as at 27.09.2026.
| City | 2 rooms – median price | 3 rooms – median price | Median PLN/m² (all) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warsaw | PLN 755 824 | PLN 935 503 | PLN 18 000 |
| Wroclaw | PLN 662 405 | PLN 878 658 | PLN 15 736 |
You can find current flats in the catalogue: new flats in Warsaw and new flats in Wroclaw. A full summary of costs on the buyer's side – notary, court, taxes – is in the guide Costs of buying a flat from a developer.
Read also:
Frequently asked questions
Do you pay tax on selling an inherited flat?
Only if five years have not yet passed since the end of the year in which the deceased bought or built the flat. Then you pay 19% of the income, but you deduct the purchase costs incurred by the deceased, expenditure, the compulsory share and estate debts. You can also use the housing relief.
When do you start counting 5 years for an inherited flat?
From the end of the calendar year in which the deceased acquired the flat – not from their death or from the court decision. This rule applies to sales from 1 January 2019. The exception is the part of the flat taken over above your share in the division of the estate – for it the period is counted from the end of the year of the division.
Is selling a gifted flat before 5 years have passed taxed?
Yes. With a gift, five years are counted from the end of the year in which you received it. You deduct only documented expenditure and, where relevant, gift tax paid – you cannot deduct the price paid by the donor, which is why the tax can be high.
Do I have to file PIT-39 if I sell an inherited flat after 5 years?
No. A sale after five years have passed is not a source of income in PIT, so you do not report it in your return. You file PIT-39 only for a sale before the deadline – also when, thanks to housing relief, the tax is PLN 0.
Can the compulsory share be deducted when selling a flat?
Yes, a compulsory share paid is an estate burden and reduces the income from the sale – in proportion to the share of the inherited estate that the flat being sold represents. It can be deducted even if you pay it only after the sale.
What happens if I do not file SD-Z2 on time?
You lose the exemption for the closest family and the acquisition is taxed under the rules of the first tax group, with a tax-free amount of PLN 36 120. If you learned of the inheritance later, you can report it within 6 months of the day you learned of it and substantiate that circumstance.
Summary
With an inheritance the key is the date of purchase by the deceased – if five full calendar years have passed, you sell without PIT. With a gift the clock restarts on the day of the gift, and the costs you can deduct are modest. Before you sign the sale contract, put three things in order: the legal title (confirmation of acquisition of the estate or a certificate of inheritance), the SD-Z2 report on time, and the cost documents – the deceased's purchase deed, renovation invoices and proof of payment of the compulsory share.
Want to sell an inherited flat and buy a new one? We will help value and sell the flat, and for a purchase on the primary market we will find you a flat from a developer – in most cases no commission for the buyer; the developer usually pays our fee.
Legal position as at September 2026. The calculations are indicative and do not constitute tax or legal advice. In unusual situations (several heirs, division of the estate, spouses' joint property) it is worth confirming the settlement with the tax office or applying for an individual interpretation.
Sources
- Personal Income Tax Act – consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 592 (art. 10 sec. 1 pt 8, sec. 5 and 7, art. 19, art. 21 sec. 1 pt 131, art. 22 sec. 6c–6e, art. 30e, art. 45 sec. 1a).
- Act of 23 October 2018 amending the Personal Income Tax Act – Dz.U. 2018 item 2159 (addition of art. 10 sec. 5–7, art. 16 – applicable from 1 January 2019).
- Inheritance and Gift Tax Act – consolidated text Dz.U. 2026 item 478 (art. 4a, art. 9, art. 14, art. 15).
- Act on Court Costs in Civil Cases – consolidated text Dz.U. 2025 item 1228 (art. 49 and 51).
- Gov.pl – Report receipt of property from an inheritance or gift (SD-Z2).
- Podatki.gov.pl – Acquiring an inheritance or gift within the closest family – SD tax exemption.
- Flat prices: TM Invest investment catalogue, as at 27.09.2026.
